Deliverance from Idolatry
Isaiah 44:21 – 48:22
Isaiah 44:21 – 48:22
21 Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel, for thou art my servant; I have formed thee: thou art my servant, Israel; thou shalt not be forgotten of me. 22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee. 23 Sing, ye heavens; for Jehovah hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth; break forth into singing, ye mountains, the forest, and every tree therein! For Jehovah hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel. 24 Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb: I am Jehovah, the maker of all things; who alone stretched out the heavens, who did spread forth the earth by myself; 25 — he that frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish; 26 that confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built up, and I will raise up their ruins; 27 that saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers; 28 that saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and he shall perform all my pleasure; even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.
1 Thus saith Jehovah to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him — and I will loose the loins of kings; to open before him the two-leaved doors, and the gates shall not be shut: 2 I will go before thee, and make the elevated places plain; I will break in pieces the brazen doors, and cut asunder the bars of iron; 3 and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places; that thou mayest know that I, Jehovah, who call thee by name, am the God of Israel. 4 For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have called thee by thy name; I surnamed thee, though thou didst not know me; 5 I am Jehovah, and there is none else; there is no God beside me: I girded thee, and thou hast not known me; 6 — that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the going down, that there is none beside me. I am Jehovah, and there is none else; 7 forming the light and creating darkness, making peace and creating evil: I, Jehovah, do all these things. v.7 God does not create moral evil but he does create physical evil like tornadoes and volcanoes.
8 Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and with it let righteousness spring up. I, Jehovah, have created it. 9 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let a potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that formeth it, What makest thou? Or thy work, He hath no hands? 10 Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? Or to his mother, What hast thou brought forth? 11 Thus saith Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: Ask me of the things to come; concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands, command ye me. 12 It is I that have made the earth, and created man upon it; it is I, my hands, that have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. 13 It is I that have raised him up in righteousness, and I will make all his ways straight: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith Jehovah of hosts. 14 Thus saith Jehovah: The wealth of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall walk after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall bow down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely GOD is in thee; and there is none else, no other God. … 15 Verily thou art a GOD that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour. … 16 They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them; they shall go away in confusion together, the makers of idols. 17 Israel shall be saved by Jehovah with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded, unto the ages of ages. 18 For thus saith Jehovah who created the heavens, God himself who formed the earth and made it, he who established it, — not as waste did he create it: he formed it to be inhabited: — I am Jehovah, and there is none else. 19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth; I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek me in vain: I am Jehovah, speaking righteousness, declaring things which are right. 20 Gather yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations. They have no knowledge that carry the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a GOD that cannot save. 21 Declare and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath caused this to be heard from ancient time? who hath declared it long ago? Is it not I, Jehovah? And there is no God else beside me; a just GOD and a Saviour, there is none besides me. 22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am GOD, and there is none else. 23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness and shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. 24 Only in Jehovah, shall one say, have I righteousness and strength. To him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. 25 In Jehovah shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.
1 Bel is bowed down, Nebo bendeth; their idols are upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: the things ye carried are laid on, a burden to the weary beast. 2 They bend, they are bowed down together; they could not deliver the burden, and themselves are gone into captivity. 3 Hearken unto me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, ye who have been borne from the belly, who have been carried from the womb: 4 Even to old age, I am HE, and unto hoary hairs I will carry you: It is I that have made, and I will bear, and I will carry, and will deliver. 5 To whom will ye liken me and make me equal, or compare me, that we may be like? 6 — They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance; they hire a goldsmith, and he maketh it a GOD: they fall down, yea, they worship. 7 They bear him on the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place; there he standeth, he doth not remove from his place: yea, one crieth unto him, and he answereth not; he saveth him not out of his trouble. 8 Remember this, and shew yourselves men; call it to mind, ye transgressors. 9 Remember the former things of old; for I am GOD, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me; 10 declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure; 11 calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. Yea, I have spoken, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it. 12 Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted, that are far from righteousness: 13 I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not delay; and I will give salvation in Zion, and unto Israel my glory.
1 Come down and sit in the dust, virgin-daughter of Babylon! Sit on the ground, — there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate. 2 Take the millstones, and grind meal; remove thy veil, lift up the train, uncover the leg, pass over rivers: 3 thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen. I will take vengeance, and I will meet none to stay me. … 4 Our Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel. … 5 Sit silent, and get thee into darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans; for thou shalt no more be called, Mistress of kingdoms. 6 I was wroth with my people, I polluted mine inheritance, and gave them into thy hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the aged didst thou very heavily lay thy yoke; 7 and thou saidst, I shall be a mistress for ever; so that thou didst not take these things to heart, thou didst not remember the end thereof. 8 And now hear this, thou voluptuous one, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thy heart, It is I, and there is none but me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know loss of children: 9 yet these two things shall come upon thee in a moment, in one day, loss of children and widowhood; they shall come upon thee in full measure for the multitude of thy sorceries, for the great abundance of thine enchantments. 10 For thou hast confided in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath seduced thee; and thou hast said in thy heart, It is I, and there is none but me. 11 But evil shall come upon thee — thou shalt not know from whence it riseth; and mischief shall fall upon thee, which thou shalt not be able to ward off; and desolation that thou suspectest not shall come upon thee suddenly. 12 Stand now with thine enchantments and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to turn them to profit, if so be thou mayest cause terror. 13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the interpreters of the heavens, the observers of the stars, who predict according to the new moons what shall come upon thee, stand up, and save thee. 14 Behold, they shall be as stubble, the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it. 15 Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, they that trafficked with thee from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his own quarter; there is none to save thee.
1 Hear ye this, house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of Jehovah, and make mention of the God of Israel, not in truth, nor in righteousness. 2 For they are named after the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel: Jehovah of hosts is his name. 3 I have declared the former things long ago; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I caused them to be heard: I wrought suddenly, and they came to pass. 4 Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass, 5 so I have long ago declared them to thee; before they came to pass I caused thee to hear them; lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, or my molten image hath commanded them. 6 Thou heardest, see all this; — and ye, will not ye declare it? I have caused thee to hear new things from this time, and things hidden, and that thou knewest not: 7 they are created now, and not long ago; and before this day thou hast not heard them, lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them. 8 Yea, thou heardest not, yea, thou knewest not, yea, from of old thine ear was not opened; for I knew that thou wouldest ever deal treacherously, and thou wast called a transgressor from the womb. 9 For my name’s sake I will defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain as to thee, that I cut thee not off. 10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not as silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. 11 For mine own sake, for mine own sake, will I do it; for how should my name be profaned? and I will not give my glory unto another. 12 Hearken unto me, Jacob, and thou Israel, my called. I am HE; I, the first, and I, the last. 13 Yea, my hand hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spread abroad the heavens: I call unto them, they stand up together. 14 All ye, gather yourselves together, and hear: which among them hath declared these things? He whom Jehovah hath loved shall execute his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. 15 I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him; I have brought him, and his way shall be prosperous. 16 Come near unto me, hear ye this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I; and now the Lord Jehovah hath sent me, and his Spirit. 17 Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am Jehovah thy God, who teacheth thee for thy profit, who leadeth thee in the way that thou shouldest go. 18 Oh that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! Then would thy peace have been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea; 19 and thy seed would have been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof: their name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me. 20 Go ye forth from Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing; declare, cause this to be heard, utter it to the end of the earth; say ye, Jehovah hath redeemed his servant Jacob. 21 And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts; he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them; yea, he clave the rock, and the waters gushed out. 22 There is no peace, saith Jehovah, unto the wicked.